Pistol Offense
The Pistol Offense is an offense that features a quarterback in a short three yard shotgun and a running back three yards behind him. Upon the quarterback receiving the direct snap he may turn around and hand the ball off to the running back behind him, look up to pass or execute the option from the "pistol" with the running back. The advantage of this offense is that it gives the quarterback an opportunity to read the defense without the disadvantages of a normal shotgun such as signaling a pass play. It also allows the running back an opportunity to run downhill as opposed to the shotguns normal sideways angles. This offense was innovated by current Nevada head coach Chris Ault. While the Wolf Pack is the only school that uses this offense as their primary offense it has been seen throughout high school and college football.The Pistol has now even made the leap to the NFL in brief instances by some teams or regularly by the 2008 Kansas City Chiefs with Tyler Thigpen at quarterback. The Pittsburgh Steelers also briefly used the Pistol Offense in their 2010-2011 season, in an attempt to help Ben Roethlisberger perform with a broken foot.
Read more about this topic: Offensive Philosophy (American Football)
Famous quotes containing the words pistol and/or offense:
“The Germans are called brutal, the Spanish cruel, the Americans superficial, and so on; but we are perfide Albion, the island of hypocrites, the people who have built up an Empire with a Bible in one hand, a pistol in the other, and financial concessions in both pockets. Is the charge true? I think it is.”
—E.M. (Edward Morgan)
“When offense occurred, Slaughter took the trail, and seldom returned with a live prisoner. Usually he reported that he had chased the suspect “clean out of the county”; these suspects never reappeared in Tombstone—or anywhere else.”
—Administration in the State of Ariz, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)